FILM| Dear Terrorist, I Forgive You: Figen Murray

Figen Murray is the mother of Martyn Hett, 29, a PR worker who was killed in the Manchester Arena bomb attacks in May 2017. 22 people were killed and 120 injured at the when Salman Abedi, 22, carried out a suicide bomb attack at the Ariane Grande concert.

We ask her what she would say to Salman Abedi if he was alive, why she rejects being labelled a victim, being trolled on the internet after she publicly forgave the attacker and her response to those who questioned why she was not grieving enough.

Figen hopes that by coming together and sharing solutions we have less to fear when tackling extremism. She wants to remember her son as an “ambassador for positivity.”

Figen Murray, you are a warrior of light and your sword is made of pure bravery and gilded of intention. You are a gift to the world and an inspiration to all family members searching for their own hope on the other side of loss and trauma. Posted with love.

9/11: The Al Qaeda attacks on New York’s Twin Towers and the Pentagon in Washington on 11th September 2001, which triggered President George W Bush’s ‘War on Terror’ and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

7/7: The co-ordinated bomb attacks on London by four young British men in the name of Al Qaeda, on 7th July 2005, which killed 52 people.

Al Qaeda: Terrorist group founded in 1988 by Osama Bin Laden, which committed the 9/11 attacks.

Islamic State (Daesh/IS/ISIS/ISIL): Terrorist group formed after the fall of Saddam Hussain in Iraq and the civil war in Syria. It is the most prominent recruiter of Westerners to its mission to establish its own state.